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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25536469">The Moon's Promise Part 1</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/thecocacolagarage/pseuds/thecocacolagarage'>thecocacolagarage</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Moon's Promise [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: The Last Airbender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 09:07:20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,243</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25536469</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/thecocacolagarage/pseuds/thecocacolagarage</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Katara and Zuko discover secrets about each of their nation's pasts. Will their discoveries bring the world closer together or just themselves? Or were the secrets they discovered supposed to stay hidden forever?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Katara/Zuko (Avatar)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Moon's Promise [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1850368</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Moon's Promise Part 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>I.</p><p>Dawn was still an hour away and Katara could not sleep. The moon was nowhere to be found but the stars still shone brightly above her. </p><p>Katara breathed out a small, warm cloud of mist, when a single snowflake fell on her sleeve. A second later another fell in the space between her eyes. Then several more fell on her lap. A sudden flurry flew out of the early morning darkness and pushed the hood of her fur coat back. A chill ran through her body before it stopped halfway and melted into nothingness. </p><p>Cold was familiar to Katara. A sharp wind never shocked her for too long. Sometimes she felt she could bend the cold out of her body the same way she could bend water.</p><p>“Heat bending. A Water Tribe exclusive. Sokka would finally be able to call himself a bender,” said Katara to herself, letting out a small chuckle.</p><p>Appa roared and Katara’s mind shifted back to reality. She and Aang were soaring across the sky towards the Southern Air Temple. It had been a year since they were last there, a year since Aang discovered Monk Gyatso’s body, and a year since Katara held Aang tightly and brought him back out of the incredible and Avatar State.</p><p>Another chill ran through Katara’s body, but this time she let it pass all the way through herself. </p><p>Aang and Katara were going to meet a coalition of Fire Nation, Earth Kingdom, and Northern Water Tribe officials at the Temple to discuss the commitments each of the nations had made towards the restoration of the Air Nomad culture. In fact, the meeting wasn’t scheduled until later in the afternoon, but Aang was too excited to wait until the morning to leave for the Southern Air Temple. </p><p>Katara couldn’t say no to Aang when he asked her if she would come with him. His eyes welled with excitement, hope, and, to those who knew him best, pain. She told him, “Of course I’ll come.” And as soon as she did, Aang flew into the air and planted a kiss on her lips. </p><p>She held her mother’s pendant searching for an emotion. It was cool to the touch despite the fact that it was always held against her skin. </p><p>But it wasn’t just her mother’s pendant. It had originally belonged to her grandmother, given to her by Master Pakku as a symbol of their engagement. But her grandmother did not want to marry him and ran away to the South Pole.</p><p>Katara often wondered what her Nana felt when she made the decision to leave. Did she ever love Master Pakku or was she simply not ready to make the kind of commitment Pakku and her society demanded of her? </p><p>Katara stood up on Appa’s saddle and looked upwards towards the stars. She remembered what the elders used to tell children about the stars: that they were giant icicles pointed straight down, their shiny tips the only parts visible to those on the ground. The elders said that long ago The Moon Spirit was in battle with a powerful Earth spirit. After hundreds of years of battle, The Moon Spirit, weary of their constant fighting, finally gathered half the water from the world’s oceans and held them above the Earth like a million daggers. The Earth Spirit, fearing destruction, called for a truce. The Moon Spirit agreed but left the icicles suspended in the air, an eternal reminder of her incredible power and their fragile peace. And thus the stars were born. </p><p>The water taken by The Moon Spirit also uncovered a great many islands. Some of these would later become parts of the Fire Nation and parts of the Southern Water Tribe. These two Nations, so different, were essentially born from the same battle, and their continued existence was proof of the peace between two powerful spirits.  </p><p>“‘Skycicles’,” said Katara, “I won’t even tell Sokka about that one.”</p><p>Appa suddenly dipped into a bank of clouds, obscuring the bright light of the stars. Surrounded by flurry and mist, Katara moved her arms outwards and bent the moisture around her, condensing the snow into strands that she then weaved into an intricate pattern around her. She closed her eyes and then let the snow and ice explode out of her. </p><p>When she opened her eyes a moment later, a brand new night sky shone before her. The ice crystals she bent glistened like the stars The Moon Spirit had created, except Katara’s stars did not hide a secret danger. Her stars revealed everything they were, all at once. Snowflakes, ice crystals, water droplets. Katara opened her mouth to say something.</p><p>But then the wind blew her stars away. Dawn was breaking. </p><p> </p><p>II. </p><p>Prince Zuko was startled awake by the sound of cymbals crashing. The royal palace had been mostly silent since the day he assumed the throne. Most of the sages, administrators, and bureaucrats that occupied the ornate complex had remained loyal to Ozai and fled to the farthest flung Fire Nation islands as soon as they heard that the Phoenix King had fallen. </p><p>Come to think of it, Zuko thought to himself, everyone with a fancy hat left, while everyone who didn’t have a fancy hat stayed. </p><p>Zuko groggily sat up in his bed. “Politics are weird,” he said to no one in particular.  He walked over to his bedroom window, a whole fifteen steps, and peered out in search of the noise that awoke him. </p><p>Ty Lee waved at him from the courtyard. She was busily tying a drum kit to Bosco the bear. Bosco growled contentedly. </p><p>“Hi Zuko!,” Ty Lee cheerfully shouted, “Oop, I mean, ‘Good morning, Fire Lord Zuko.’” </p><p>She bowed. Zuko groaned. Bosco clapped a pair of cymbals together.</p><p>Every morning brought a new set of stresses to the Fire Lord. This morning was no different. However, Bosco’s one-bear-musical-extravanganza, as loud as it was, was the least of his worries for the day. The lofty rhetoric, the colorful marches, and the peaceful tea parties had all faded away into the work of actual government. The world had been at war for a hundred years, and a hundred years of war meant a hundred years of grievances. </p><p>The Fire Nation had set fire to the world and the Avatar had helped put it out. But Zuko knew personally what fire can leave behind. </p><p>Zuko donned the black lined, dark-orange and red robes of the Fire Lord and walked into the makeshift office he had put together in an old ballroom. Administrators frantically danced about the room, papers flying around in the air like confetti, as they all struggled to catch up on work that they had all already fallen hopelessly behind on. Everyone in the room was of course hatless.</p><p>Zuko closed his eyes and tried to focus on the big picture. The exact exchange rate of Fire Nation currency for Earth Kingdom currency was an important detail but not something he felt was immediately crucial to the peacemaking process (although it should be noted that his economic advisor vehemently disagreed with him on this). The fishermen lobby had aroused his sympathy earlier in the week. They described the Fire Eel market as being in free fall. The inferior, but vastly cheaper, Ground Eels had flooded the markets when the war ended and humble Fire Nation eel catchers could not find a way to make their product any cheaper. The fishermen worried that the nation’s heritage, and its diet, would be destroyed without the Fire Lord’s intervention. Zuko supposed that made sense, but business and economics were not his strong suit. He knew how to fight, but very few problems arose nowadays that required a backwards fire kick.</p><p>As important as these problems were to his subjects, Zuko thought, they would all be helped by a lasting peace between the Fire Nation and the rest of the world</p><p>Zuko controlled his breathing and cleared his mind. The world needs to trust the Fire Nation again, thought Zuko. I need to restore its honor.</p><p>“Mister Fire Lord, sir,” said a young, hatless assistant, “The Fire Sage librarians have an urgent message for you. They tell me you must meet them in the catacombs as soon as you can.”</p><p>“Thank you,” said Zuko. A few Fire Sages had remained since his father was defeated. They were apparently more loyal to their scrolls. And they also hated wearing hats.</p><p>Zuko excused himself and walked across the palace to the catacombs stopping once to look up towards the royal prison tower. </p><p> </p><p>III. </p><p>Appa landed softly on one of the many terraces that circled the Southern Air Temple. A hundred years ago, Aang and Katara would have probably been greeted by the smell of fruit pies cooling on window sills and the sound of a dozen flying lemurs fighting over a scrap of food stolen from a poor, young airbender in training. Instead the temple was eerily quiet and smelled of wet stone. </p><p>“You know, for a hundred years, it could look a lot worse,” said Aang, “But, in a few months, you’ll see how beautiful this place can really be.”</p><p>“I believe you,” said Katara, “This place already is amazing.”</p><p>The early morning sun casted a warm, orange light over the temple. For a moment, Katara felt that the temple wasn’t actually empty. Every morning the sun rose and the temple came back to life. She imagined that the shadows that slowly shifted across the ancient stonework were its new inhabitants. Strange and untouchable, they were very attached to their daily rituals. Left to right. That’s probably how most of them moved. </p><p>“Thanks for coming with me again,” said Aang, “In a way, I think rebuilding what we had here, what the Air Nomads had built over thousands of years, will be harder than fighting even twenty Fire Lords.”</p><p>Aang paused, “I guess what I’m saying is that I don’t think I can do this without you. I’m really glad you’re here.” </p><p>Aang leaned in to kiss her, but Katara leaned past him and drew him into a hug. “I’m really glad I’m here too,” said Katara.</p><p>Katara and Aang had not talked much since their first kiss at Ba Sing Se. That evening was actually the last time that the whole gang was in the same city together. Katara had spent the last few months in the Northern Water Tribe convincing their leaders that the Fire Nation really was committed to peace while Aang spent that same time with Fire Lord Zuko dealing with unrest in the Fire Nation colonies. Sokka and Toph also had their own mission: traveling all over the world making sure that every last town, village, and farm knew that the war was over. </p><p>This trip to the Southern Air Temple was the first time Aang and Katara were alone together in months. </p><p>“Hey Aang. How about we clean this place up a bit before Sokka, Toph, and the others get here,” said Katara, “I’ll get started by the fountains.”</p><p>“Sure,” said Aang, “I guess that sounds like a good idea.”</p><p>Aang opened his glider. “Katara?,” said Aang.</p><p>“Yes Aang?,” said Katara.</p><p>“I missed you,” said Aang.</p><p>“Me too,” said Katara.</p><p>Aang then flew up into the sky and circled to the back of the temple where Sokka, Toph, and all of the airships were likely to land. Katara walked towards an empty fountain and sat down. She wondered how her grandmother was able to get to the South Pole after leaving her home. A flying bison would have certainly been helpful. </p><p>A loud crack suddenly interrupted her thoughts. The sound echoed through the mountainous canyons surrounding the temple. </p><p>“Aang?,” she called out. There was no response. Her heart skipped a beat. Had Aang discovered the body of another friend? Had he lost control of the Avatar State again? </p><p>A flash of blue and orange flew by her and dove over the side of the temple. She looked down and noticed that the platform below her had collapsed and had formed a strangely functional staircase. She carefully stepped down the rubble. </p><p>When she reached the bottom of the broken platform, she found herself in a bright and open meadow filled with orange and yellow wildflowers. A warm breeze blew past her. Katara took off her coat.</p><p>“What is this place?,” Katara wondered aloud. The murals lining the walls didn’t look like any she had seen in any of the air temples she had visited. They were made with a dark ochre paint that was laid on the walls in bold, solid strokes. She couldn’t make out what was depicted. Vines obscured too much of the mural.</p><p>“Kind of looks like a snake, or a…”</p><p>Katara suddenly felt a warm breeze blow down her neck. A warm, humid breeze. Almost like a breath. Or exactly like a breath. Katara slowly turned her head and found herself facing a large, scaly nose. Above it were a pair of large, kaleidoscopic eyes. Blue and orange swirled around in its pupils, crashing and exploding, pulling and pushing. </p><p>The dragon let out another breath. Katara stared into its eyes and felt her body shrink. Her vision narrowed until all she saw were crashing waves of blue and orange. She reached out her arm, now as heavy as a bag of sand, and felt the cold wetness of the dragon’s nose.</p><p>“Oh,” said Katara.</p>
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